


I've got a feeling this year's for me and you

by Sweetcheeksandbabycakes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Music, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, No Smut, The Tomlinsons - Freeform, umm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 06:51:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5530016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetcheeksandbabycakes/pseuds/Sweetcheeksandbabycakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Tomlinson's first Christmas doesn't really go to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've got a feeling this year's for me and you

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhhh merry christmas!  
> not really sure what this was or where the idea came from i just started writing it expecting like a 2k kinda thing and then this happened so...  
> anyway hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful christmas!!  
> the title is from fairytale of new york by the pogues (the greatest christmas song of all time)  
> enjoy!!!

  
**December 23rd**

"Lou, did you forget the bloody turkey?"

Louis stopped dead in his tracks, tattered Vans still strewn down the hallway no matter how many times Harry nagged at him to _"Pick them up Lou, you're making the place untidy and I keep tripping over them!"_ He kicked his favourite pair of black ones to one side, obviously in the middle of the floor because Harry had tripped over them _again_ ten minutes earlier.

"No? It's in the bottom of the bag," Louis said scratching the back of his head and not meeting his husband's eyes.

"I just emptied all of them and it's not in there. I need to have it stuffed by twelve so I can chill it for the next few days! Did you not read the schedule I pinned to the fridge last month?" Harry said, pointing towards the fridge and the empty carrier bags on the floor. He prayed Louis had brought them from home and not spent five pence on them, he didn't buy a bag for life for nothing. Harry had made the infamous schedule on December sixteenth, determined to make their first Christmas as a married couple a special one. Louis was over it by the eighteenth. Harry's constant complaining was cute at first, but by the time he'd literally whacked Louis around the head with his stupid festive notebook, Louis was done with Christmas altogether.

"H, just go to Tescos and pick one up, I'm sure there'll be some left, stop flapping about," Louis rolled his eyes and headed towards the lounge determined to watch at least half of Home Alone before Harry managed to rope him into some kitchen duties. Louis, no matter how many times he tried to Tipex out his name, was still very much on the schedule for cranberry sauce making, table setting and dish-washing. The last one he was least fond of, and he was seriously considering paying the twins off to do it for him. They'd probably tell him to stuff it and go back to watching shitty Christmas telly.

"Go to-" Harry said incredulously, "Louis it was an organic turkey! Free range and grew on a farm in Warwickshire!" Louis was tempted to ask of the turkey's family history, but didn't fancy another clout round the back of the head so he kept his mouth shut and let Harry continue to yell. "I do not want a Tesco turkey! I reminded you last night to go to the butchers and pick up the turkey, then go to the organic fruit and veg shop two pissing doors down from the butchers and pick me up the carrots! I don't want moldy Tesco carrots!" Louis could see Harry was getting more and more worked up, so he took a tentative step towards his husband, who was now breathing heavily and not looking at Louis.

"H, come on they're only carrots," Louis tried to reason, edging closer and closer to the man who was now frantically scribbling in his notepad. "I can pop back down to the butchers now if you want, then go get your carrots being as the shop is only 'two pissing doors down' yeah?"

"Really? Thanks Lou. The turkey is under Tomlinson remember, the big free range one? Like really big, you have a big family you know, we can't have anyone going hungry. Maybe I should get a ham joint too. Lou is it your mum who doesn't like ham?" Before Louis could reply Harry shook his head and carried on rambling. "No, it's Daisy isn't it? I'll pick one up tomorrow just in case, let me add that to my list." Louis walked towards the door halfway through Harry's ramble, slipped on his checkered Vans for the quickest, and stuffed his wallet into his pocket. He was about to leave the house when he heard Harry call him back, so with another eye roll he headed back to their kitchen.

"Louis, don't pick the wrong turkey up or I'll rip you balls off and put 'em in the stuffing."

Louis gulped and chuckled nervously, a hand slipping down slowly to protect his nether regions.

"I mean it Louis. Now pick up the bloody turkey and hurry up. I need to prepare the stuffing." Harry bustled past his husband, heading towards the cupboards and pulling out various pots and pans.

"Okay love I'm going, I'm going. I don't know why you're in such a rush, it's only the twenty third anyway," Louis said whilst patting his pockets checking he'd got everything whilst ignoring that it was the twenty third, a day before his birthday, his _twenty fifth birthday_. God he was old. He brushed it off though, and turned back to Harry. "Need anything else while I'm out?"

"Just the turkey and carrots are fine. I have the sprouts already, they're in fridge ready to be boiled on Christmas Day, and the chestnuts and bacon to go with them are also in the fridge; the potatoes are in the pantry, you're gonna have to help me peel them though, remind me to add that to your schedule. What else? Oh yeah, the Christmas Pudding is with the cake in the pantry, and the-" Louis cut off Harry's babbling with a laugh and a kiss to his cheek, then he left his stressed out husband to his schedule.

\---

The drive to the butchers was a stressful one, the traffic was atrocious so it took Louis forty five minutes instead of the usual fifteen minute drive it was supposed to be. Then he couldn't find a parking space and had to park illegally half on the pavement beside the shop. To make matters worse, as soon as he stepped out of the car, he trod straight in shit.

"For fucks sake, all this for a turkey," Louis mumbled angrily, scrunching up his nose and shaking his leg violently to try and rid his Vans of the shit. It wasn't working. He sighed and made his way towards the entrance of the butchers, an extremely welcoming slaughtered pig carcass hanging from a hook beside the door greeted him. He held his breath, remembering the times he had to go here with his mum when he was little, and the putrid stench of raw meat made him swear to avoid the butchers for the rest of his life. But here he was, picking up a bloody organic turkey for his husband who was almost in tears over it. Harry was lucky he was cute.

Louis took a deep breath and opened the door, a small bell signalling his arrival. As soon as he entered he wanted to leave. The shop was packed. The queue spiralled around the entirety of it, hyperactive kids weaving through parents' legs and driving them mad, all with one man trying to work behind the counter. He was running up and down like a mad man, cutting joints of meat, gutting poultry, wrapping up sausages and trying to coax the stubborn cash register into opening it's drawer.

"All this for a turkey," Louis muttered again, making the woman in front of him snort.

"Your other half got you running errands for 'em too?" She asked with a grin, green eyes twinkling in the dim lighting of the room.

"Yeah, the husband has been organising Christmas since the middle of bloody November. It's driving me up the hat rack!" He said with a grin, making her laugh again and nod in understanding.

"Same here, only it's my wife, it's out first Christmas with the little ones so she's going all out."

"Oh bloody hell I can't imagine what Harry will be like when we have kids, I'll leave home." They both laughed again and moved forward in the queue.

They continued to natter whilst they kept advancing in the queue, watching people leave with arms laden full of meats for their Christmas dinner. After about thirty minutes of queuing it was only the two of them left in the shop which was preparing to close. The girl went up to the counter, and after a brief chat with the butcher, she was handed a giant turkey that made her groan and huff.

"Bit heavy?" Louis teased.

"Oh piss off. I'm gonna bloody kill her," she groaned and hitched the turkey up higher in her arms trying to stop it from slipping down.

"Good luck with that then," Louis laughed and stepped up to the counter. "Have a good Christmas!" He called after her with a smile.

"You too Louis! Try not to kill your husband! If you do remember to find a good hiding place for the body!" she called back with a cheeky smile.

Louis cackled and waved to her, then turned back to the man behind the counter who had been smiling at the exchange.

"What can I do for you sir?" He asked with a pleasant smile.

"Well my husband ordered a turkey from you a couple of weeks back, it's under Tomlinson. The big one he told me," Louis explained.

"Let me just check in my order book in the back, I won't be long," The man disappeared through a door behind the counter, leaving Louis alone in the shop. He reached down to his pockets to grab his phone so he could text Harry to tell him why he'd been so long, but came up empty handed.

"For Gods sake," Louis groaned when he realised he'd left his phone at home.

"Mr Tomlinson I'm assuming?" The butcher asked Louis reappearing from the room. "I'm afraid we don't have any orders under that name, the only one we had under Tomlinson has just been taken," the man explained with a sheepish look on his face.

"What do you mean no orders under that name?" Louis asked, plotting the many ways he could kill Harry in his head for putting him through this ordeal.

"I looked in the book, and the only order under Tomlinson was taken by that woman who just left. The one you were talking to. Do you two know each other?"

"No we don't know each-" Louis cut off with wide eyes. "She's stole me bloody turkey!"

"I'm sure there was just a mix up with the orders, I can check if there's anything left over for you? I'm ever so sorry Mr Tomlinson," the butcher said, heading back towards the room where he disappeared to before.

Louis, judging by the ransacked state of the shop, was not convinced that he'd find anything. He was fuming.

"Mr Tomlinson-" Louis cut the man off before he could finish.

"Call me Louis, I'm not old enough to be called Mr Tomlinson."

"Right sorry, Louis I'm afraid we don't have anything left, everyone has come in today last minute."

Louis turned towards the exit then, and said goodbye to the butcher.

"I'm really sorry Mr Tom- Louis I mean. It's never happened before," the man seemed so guilty, that Louis felt kinda bad for him. Only a little bit though, he wasn't the one who was going to be losing his testicles so his husband could make them into stuffing. "I hope you have a good Christmas."

"Thanks mate, it wasn't your fault. Merry Christmas," Louis said back to the man and left the shop, the little bell ringing again. He walked towards his car with his head down, saying a mental goodbye to his balls. When he looked up, he was met with the sight of his car being towed.

"Oh my fucking God! Hey! That's my car!" Louis yelled and ran towards the tow-truck. "That's my car!" The van picked up speed and turned the corner leaving a cloud of dust where Louis' car was once parked. "For fucks sake," Louis groaned, violently kicking a pebble along the path.

"Mate are you okay?" Louis heard someone ask.

He turned around to see the butcher from earlier looking at him with concerned eyes.

"My car has just been bloody towed, and I forgot my phone at home so I have to walk home because I can't ring my husband to come and pick me up," Louis explained sighing.

"You can borrow my phone if you want, it's the least I can do after the turkey fiasco," the man said handing Louis his phone.

"Thanks mate." Louis dialed Harry's number then, and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Thank God. H it's me," Louis said relieved that Harry answered for once. "Can you come and pick me up from the butchers? My car's been towed," Louis explained holding his breath. This could go either way, Harry could be sympathetic and come and pick him up straight away, disappointed, or absolutely pissed and leave him. Louis had a horrible feeling it would be the latter.

"Oh for God's sake Louis," Harry sighed. Louis heard the faint jingle of keys in the background though. "I'm on my way, stay put," he commanded, and hung up.

"Charming," Louis muttered and handed the phone back to the man. Looks like it was disappointment then.

The man nodded in thanks, then got into his car and drove off, waving out of the window. Louis waved back and sighed, realising it was rush hour and that the traffic would probably be worse than this morning. He contemplated lying on the ground and taking a nap, but worried that Harry would be overcome with an overwhelming sense of anger and run him over. So he just stood and waited.

\---

Forty minutes later, he was still waiting. He checked his watch every five minutes, becoming more and more impatient after every minute that ticked past. He'd managed five rounds of eye-spy against himself and was halfway through his sixth when Harry's black range rover finally pulled up.

"Thank God, you took your bloody time" Louis said and got into the car and banged it behind him.

"Well the traffic was absolute shit and it was your own fault anyway so stop moaning," Harry paused looking at Louis with narrowed eyes. "Where's the fucking turkey Louis?"

"My car literally got towed and I was stranded in the freezing cold weather and you're more bothered about a turkey?" Louis asked amazed.

"Louis I'm not fucking joking where's the bloody turkey?" Harry asked again, getting more and more impatient.

"Well there was a bit of a mix up you see, totally not my fault," Louis started and launched into the story. By the end of it, Harry was banging his head against the steering wheel and muttering angrily to himself. Louis was afraid he'd gone mad.

"See? Totally not my fault," Louis tried with an awkward grin.

"Not your fault?" Harry began, raising his head and looking and Louis with resentful eyes. "If you'd have picked it up this morning instead of twatting about with Niall and buying festive frigging socks, we'd have a turkey! So Louis, this is _totally your fault_."

"Didn't think of that," Louis mumbled. "I fucked up. Sorry H."

Harry sighed and pulled the car out of the car park and onto the main road without saying a word. Louis pulled Harry's phone out of the cup holder between the two seats and opened up the safari app, typing something in with a furrowed eyebrow.

"What are you doing now?" Harry asked him.

Louis didn't answer, but a voice came out of the speakers sounding slightly tinny from the time Louis dropped it down the toilet. He's still surprised Harry agreed to marry him. The voice gave them directions, which Harry followed slightly confusedly. He carried on driving in silence to the unknown location, Louis' feet tapping on the floor whilst playing some stupid game on Harry's phone.

"Where are we?" Harry asked frustrated. They'd been directed to a bustling cobbled street, all different Christmas songs coming out of shop doors which blended together with the chatter of people doing last minute Christmas shopping. It was really fucking annoying. The drove for a few minutes more trying to find somewhere to park, Louis still not answering Harry's question. The younger boy pulled into a spot, a bit more violently than what was considered necessary, and made Louis' head bang against the window. Despite a few curse words that slipped out, Louis stayed mostly silent. He hopped out the car and walked around to the other side, holding out his hand for Harry to take. Harry rolled his eyes, but took it anyway, once again asking where they were.

"Just follow me," Louis said cryptically.

They walked along the busy street with their hands clasped tightly and coats pulled up over their noses to block out the cold. Louis' fingertips were going a bit red from his finger-less gloves so he curled them more towards Harry.

"Told you to buy some proper gloves," Harry sing-songed, finally smiling at Louis.

"They are proper gloves you twat," Louis griped, nudging Harry.

The pair continued to squabble over whether finger-less gloves were proper gloves, and Louis managed to slip both of their hands in Harry's massive pocket because his fingertips were about to fall off. Louis came to a halt outside a stone building with a green shop front, making Harry stumble and fall into Louis' back.

"Oops. Louis what are you doing? We're blocking the pavement," Harry asked, stumbling once again when Louis pulled him into the shop. "Bloody hell Louis stop doing that!"

"Shut up moaning and pick a turkey," Louis sighed, but he had a twinkle in his eye. Harry looked at his surroundings then and noticed where he was. Louis had brought them to a quaint little butchers which was completely empty, save for the cashier. There was a long fridge with various cuts of meat and poultry lined up in it, with one large turkey left at the end. It wasn't as big as the original one Harry ordered, but it was still larger than a usual turkey, and it had a small sign in front of it with the words 'Free Range and Organic' written across it.

"How can I help you boys?" The ageing woman behind the counter asked warmly.

"We'll take the biggest turkey if you don't mind, the one at the end," Louis gestured towards the bird and the woman waddled along to it, wrapping it in grease-proof paper and slipping it into a bag.

"That'll be thirty five pounds please," the woman said. Louis took the turkey in one hand and handed a few notes over that he'd pulled out of his pocket. "Have a nice day lads. Merry Christmas!"

"Thank you, same to you," Harry said smiling a little bemusedly at her.

The boys exited the shop hand in hand, Louis swinging the turkey in the other.

"This alright for you then Moaning Minnie?" Louis asked with a grin.

"Piss off, it was just luck that we actually got one, don't flatter yourself," Harry teased back. This was their way of saying _"I'm sorry,"_ and _"It's okay, I forgive you you idiot."_

Louis smiled and shook his head, and they walked back to their car in silence. Louis opened Harry's door for him when they reached the car, making Harry roll his eyes and kick his shin. Louis squawked and tried to shut the door on Harry's foot, but he managed to block it with his arm, cackling hysterically. Louis dramatically limped over to his side of the car, and slowly opened his door feigning weakness. He groaned and warbled sitting down, moaning about a broken shin. Harry just laughed harder.

"I'm glad you're amused by my pain," Louis complained, flattening his hand against his forehead in a mock faint. "Sadist."

"Oh baby, you know I'm more of a masochist," Harry teased, making Louis gasp.

"You saucy minx," Louis grinned and slapped Harry's thigh. Harry fake moaned, making Louis laugh harder. "You stop this now Harold," Louis said, wagging a finger at him and slapping his thigh again. Harry moaned again.

"Louis stop, we're in public!" Harry screeched trying not to laugh.

"Don't tell me you're an exhibitionist too," Louis said in mock horror. "We both know that though baby, after that time in Dallas back in 2012," Louis teased.

Harry groaned and his cheeks heated up, backing the car out without a comment.

"That shut you up," Louis laughed, and Harry grumbled in reply.

The pair continued to bicker on the journey home whilst simultaneously singing along to Christmas songs on the radio. They paused the argument when Fairytale of New York came on, and sung loudly at the top of their lungs, making people in the cars beside them glance over and laugh. They arrived at the house out of breath and with aching bellies from laughing so hard. Louis was just glad Harry hadn't brought up the testicle stuffing.

"Right Lou, I'm a bit behind on time so I need to get the turkey stuffed as soon as possible, so will you-"

"Stay out of your way and not annoy you?" Louis took the words right out of Harry's mouth making him huff and Louis laugh. "You say this to me every time you cook something, I think I know the drill now after six years," Louis replied haughtily, making Harry pick up a nearby dish cloth and whip him with it.

"Sadist," Louis whispered, then dashed off and left Harry hurling insults at him whilst waving the cloth at him menacingly.

Louis plopped on the sofa and began channel surfing, cursing out the turkey thief when he realised he'd missed Home Alone. It was late in the afternoon so there was bugger all on telly, so Louis switched it off and threw the remote to the other end of the sofa and glared at it. He stood up and wandered into their kitchen, planning on bothering Harry for a bit. The sight that greeted him was a strange one. Harry had his right arm held up high in the air with the dish cloth, now stained with blood, wrapped around his middle finger, whilst attempting to chop onions for the stuffing with his left. He was getting a bit rabid with his chopping, so Louis decided to intervene. He tried to take the knife from Harry's hand, but Harry flinched from the surprise contact, and jumped hard enough that the knife fell onto the floor, both of them dodging out of the way when the knife narrowly missed Louis' bare pinky toe. He noticed a slight stinging in his index finger then so he looked up from the knife to where he was resting it on the counter, to see crimson liquid flowing from a cut.

"Oh dear."

"For God's sake Louis, what is wrong with you today?" Harry yelled, right arm still ridiculously elevated in the air. "Let me get us a plaster," he sighed, rifling through their odds and ends cupboard and producing Spider-Man plasters from the bottom. He unwound the towel from his finger and wrapped a blue plaster around it, wordlessly tossing Louis the tin afterwards. Louis spent around five minutes choosing a design, the kitchen now stewing in awkward silence. He decided to turn the radio on as a bit of background noise, The Pogues singing once again, making Louis snort. Harry turned to Louis as the infamous lines _"You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot, Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God, It's our last,"_ were sung, and harmonised with them whilst looking Louis dead in the eye. They continued to stare at each other for another thirty seconds, before a smile stretched out across Louis' face, and soon the were both hysterically laughing.

"I can't believe you cut my bloody finger you twat," was the first thing Louis said once they had regained composure, which set them off again, laughing until they were wheezing and Harry was crying slightly. By this time, they weren't laughing at anything in particular, just laughing for the sake of it.

Harry pulled his phone out of his pocket when they were both calm again and gestured Louis over. He opened up his camera app and stuck his injured finger out, Louis doing the same once he had realised what Harry was doing. He snapped a picture and fiddled around with the contrast, making the red of Spider-Man's suit really stand out. Louis lost interest when Harry was deciding on a filter and changing the exposure, so he walked back to the lounge and picked up his own phone from where he abandoned it that morning. He opened up Instagram and shook his head fondly when he saw Harry had captioned the picture _'Stuffing Shenanigans.'_ Louis double tapped the picture and stuffed his phone into his pocket, heading over to the pantry. He pulled out some more onions as the ones on the counter had some unwanted blood on them, and he deposited them on the breakfast bar, then manned his station by the draining board for his usual dryer duty.

They washed and dried pots for about ten minutes, stopping when Louis became fidgety and bored, so he dragged Harry back to the lounge to watch a film.

"Louis, I've got to stuff the turkey, I can't watch a film now," Harry complained, trying to tug his arm out of Louis' grip.

"You can do it later H, just come and relax a bit. You've been on your feet since about nine this morning, and it's half three now," Louis tried, sitting on the couch and spreading his legs a bit for Harry to sit between them. Harry sighed and looked longingly at the sofa.

"Maybe just five minutes."

Three minutes later and Harry was asleep.

\---

By quarter past four, Harry was literally dead to the world on Louis' chest, so Louis decided to start stuffing the turkey himself, save Harry a job. He eased out from underneath Harry, trying not to let him roll off and smack his head on their coffee table. There'd been enough accidents. Louis carefully re-situated Harry on he sofa and tossed a blanket over his body, Harry not reacting to the movement other than snuffling slightly in his sleep.

Louis padded to the kitchen, seeing the bowl of stuffing covered up with clingfilm and the wrapped turkey next to it. Since their first proper Christmas together in 2011 Harry has been trying to teach Louis the 'secret knack' to stuffing a turkey. Said it was all in the hands. Louis giggled like a pubescent boy until Harry smacked him around the back of his head. This time though, Louis threw all caution to the wind and pulled down their prized Jamie Oliver cookbook, having watched Jamie's Christmas enough times to know it pretty much word for word, and followed the steps. By followed the steps, Louis read about three of them, shut the book and just began plopping the stuffing in the turkey's opening. (Louis had to pause to giggle again when he read that. Nothing had changed.)

By the time he'd used up all the stuffing, he could hear Harry shifting around in the other room, so he quickly washed his hands and returned back to the living room. Harry was just getting up, rubbing his eyes and yawning cutely, Louis smiled fondly and sat down on the sofa, gently as not to jostle Harry. Then he put his wet hands down Harry's t-shirt.

Harry shrieked and jumped up, looking at Louis with a deadly glare. Louis fell back onto the sofa from laughing so much, taking in big heaving breaths to try and stop. Harry's face lit up then, a mischievous grin spreading slowly across his face, making Louis' grin fade. He calculated in his head that he had about two seconds to run, because although Louis was fast, Harry had giraffe legs that were worth two of Louis' strides to one of his. He bolted up whilst keeping eye contact with Harry, then he dashed off. He sprinted from the lounge into the hallway, kicking his Vans he'd left out into the middle of the floor to act as obstacles to try and slow Harry down. Not like he really needed it, Harry was like Bambi on ice when he walked on wood floors, especially with fluffy socks on. He darted up the stairs lightning fast, hearing Harry curse and stumble over one of the shoes. Louis laughed victoriously and ran into the guest bedroom, opening the door to the en-suite and diving into the empty bath, pulling the shower curtain over to shield him from view.

He could hear Harry bound into the bedroom, yelling out a triumphant "Ah-Ha!" Then a confused little sound when he realised Louis wasn't in there. Louis stuck a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter as he heard Harry go into their en-suite, study, and main bathroom, all without victory. He heard him push the door open to the guest bedroom, floorboards creaking as he walked around, and making a loud groan when he bent down to look under the bed. Louis grabbed the almost empty shampoo bottle by the tap and armed himself with it, standing up slowly and quietly, ready to attack.

The door of the bathroom slammed open just as Louis ripped back the shower curtain, noticing Harry was wielding a furry leopard print slipper. Louis let out a battle cry and hurdled over the side of the bath, both men charging at each other. They began whacking one another with their weapons of choice, until Harry got the upper hand and grabbed Louis' wrist just as he was about to bonk Harry on the head. Harry lightly swatted Louis' arse with the slipper, and before Louis could complain and yell about him being a sadist again, Harry pushed Louis onto the closed toilet seat and straddled his lap. Louis raised an eyebrow at this sudden turn of events, but rested his hands on Harry's hips anyway. Harry leaned down slowly and Louis' eyes fluttered closed lips slightly stuck out in invitation. Just as their lips were about to brush, Harry raised his arm from around Louis' neck, and hit him around the head with the slipper.

"You little fucker! Come 'ere," Louis yelled, eyes wide in shock. Harry was on the floor from Louis' sudden rising, cackling like a mad man, darting up when Louis came nearer. He ran from the guest room down the stairs, Louis hot on his heels and cursing loudly making Harry laugh even more which caused him to lose speed. Louis caught up with him and they tumbled onto their sofa after having ran into the lounge again.

"You little shit," Louis huffed, out of breath. Harry just chuckled from his position underneath Louis, wriggling to get Louis off his back, but Louis was adamant to be awkward, clutching onto Harry's back like a koala, their height difference making him look like a little jetpack. Harry just sighed and turned onto his side as best he could, wiggling once again to get comfy. Louis unwound his legs from Harry's waist and wrapped his arms around his middle, assuming his position as big spoon. He hooked his head over Harry's shoulder so he could see the random film playing on TV which Harry must've put on, even though it was with a face full of curls.

"Why were your hands wet in the first place?" Harry asked.

"Stuffed the turkey for you. Had to wash 'em afterwards," Louis mumbled, determined on taking a quick afternoon nap. He'd had a busy day.

"Oh, thanks. Saves me a job later," Harry said with gratitude, burying deeper into Louis' arms.

The pair both drifted off with the shitty film playing in the background and the Christmas tree lights winking at them.

\---

Harry woke up around an hour later, the film still playing quietly. Louis' arms were still wrapped tightly around him even in his sleep, making Harry smile softly and snuggle more into him. Louis was snoring quietly which Harry would tease him for later, which would lead to the argument which they visited frequently: 'Does Louis snore?' ( _"No Harry, I don't bloody snore! Stop lying to sound cooler than me!" "Yes Louis, you do bloody snore." "You're a filthy liar Harry Styles." "Hey, that's Harry Tomlinson to you!"_ And so on until Harry put an end to it by kissing Louis.)

Harry wiggled out of Louis' arms and ambled to the kitchen, leaving Louis alone to snore in peace, and noticed Louis had left the bowl and dirty dishes from his stuffing escapade piled up in the sink. Harry sighed and rolled the sleeves of his t-shirt up, pulled on his pair of pink rubber gloves, (Louis' matching blue ones were under the sink unit. God they were sickening) and set to work. It only took him ten minutes to wash and dry the pots, and another five to put them away. Louis was still sleeping soundly in the lounge so Harry wiped his hands on his trousers and looked at the clock. Louis would probably be asleep for another hour or so, and Harry figured that it would be enough time to get started.

He pulled his apron out of the drawer, emblazoned with some sort of Great British Bake Off quote which Gemma got him for his birthday. He reached up and grabbed his Mary Berry Cakes and Bakes book from the recipe book rack and flicked through until he landed on the recipe Louis said he wanted.

It didn't take him long to make the batter, only around twenty five minutes. He did use to be a baker. Louis told Harry he didn't want a big grand cake ordering this year, he just wanted something homemade and uncomplicated, would rather spend time with his family rather than have Harry run around like a headless chicken all day after a cake. Last year was a disaster. Harry shook his head at the memory and tipped the cake batter into a small round tin, only making a smaller one as he had plans to bake cupcakes with both sets of twins the next day when they arrived. Baking with two toddlers and two almost-teenagers, that was sure to be fun.

Harry placed the tin carefully into their oven, closed the door and set about washing the pots, Louis still asleep on the sofa which meant Harry could was the pots in peace and not accidentally end up stabbing one of them again. He washed and dried each utensil thoroughly, then put them away in the correct drawers and rearranged the ones Louis had put away earlier, as even though they's lived in this house for over three and a half years, Louis still didn't know where to put the bloody wooden spoons. Harry shook his head fondly at his incompetent husband and dropped the tea towels into the very full wash basket. He checked the clock again, realising he had another fifteen minutes until the cake was done so he decided to get a head start on all the laundry they had to do before Louis' family arrived tomorrow. Louis said he would help him with it later, but Harry had heard it enough times to know that Louis meant he would sit on top of the dryer and ordering Harry about, whilst occasionally smacking Harry's arse when he bent down. Louis was an utter shit.

Harry picked up the basket and balanced it on his hip, pushing the door open with his free hand and skidding along the hard wood floors of the hallway in his fluffy socks. He picked up various hoodies that were discarded on the floor and odd socks that were stuffed into Vans to be washed as he went, pushing the door to the laundry room open with his bum as his hands were full. He set the basket down and began the painstaking process of separating them into lights, darks and colours.

Once he had his three neat piles, he loaded up the washing machine with his darks, closing the door and pouring detergent into the little drawer at the top, then twisted the knob down to thirty degrees. He was very aware about his energy consumption. The washer kicked into life, spinning round and making Harry go a bit dizzy so he stood up and left it to wash, reminding himself to remind himself to go and take it out after thirty minutes. Harry once again glanced at the clock and sighed. It was about ten to six which meant when Louis finally woke up he'd be grouchy and hungry, so Harry had to start on dinner. He doubled back on himself and re-entered the kitchen, remembering he had leftovers from the night before and breathed a sigh of relief when he realised he didn't have to cook. He was exhausted.

Harry opened the fridge door and scanned its contents, looking for the container of soup wrapped in foil. He spotted it right at the back behind the ham he'd been to pick up earlier that morning whilst Louis was out buying the turkey. (He'd also brought carrots because he knew Louis would forget them. It scared him sometimes how well he knew the man.) He reached a long arm towards the tupperware, pushing away other various items with hi gangly limp whilst trying extremely hard not to knock anything breakable over. The cheese board for Christmas Tea was safe on the bottom shelf, so he didn't have to worry about ruining that by dropping on the floor, only the other ten million things blocking his way to the soup. He nudged the ham joint to one side, finally grasping the tall container and pulling out triumphantly, and a little carelessly. A jar of Branston pickle followed him out of the fridge, fell to the floor and landed straight on his big toe.

"Shit buggering fuck," Harry said through gritted teeth, jumping up to hold his foot and hopping around the kitchen manically.

"Everything alright love?" He heard Louis ask, voice raspy and laced with sleep.

"Yeah, except from I think I've _broke me bloody toe_ ," Harry seethed, still gripping onto his foot like it was about to fall off.

Harry could hear Louis laugh from the other room, and scowled, hopped into the lounge and flopped half on the sofa and half on top of Louis. Louis let out an oof, but still rested his hand in Harry's curls and began to play with them making Harry hum and relax even more.

"What's for dinner?" Louis asked making Harry snort.

"Leftover soup from yesterday. I can't be arsed to cook."

"Want me to heat it up while you put Friends on? Make sure it's the Christmas episode though, wanna be festive," Louis offered already getting up and heading towards the kitchen.

"Don't forget bread!" Harry called after him, flicking through the DVD drawer underneath the TV, hunting for the season seven disc and popping it in once he'd found it. He settled back against the sofa cushions, skipping down to the episode with The Holiday Armadillo. They'd watched this episode so many times they could probably quote it word for word, but it didn't stop them from re-watching it every Christmas.

Louis came back in with the soup then, two bowls balanced on the slightly naff tray Harry's Nan had gotten them one Christmas, wobbling precariously with a plate of bread almost hanging off of the tray. Harry jumped up to help him before the soup went everywhere, thinking that they'd had enough disasters already.

The pair sat back down on the sofa with a bowl of soup perched in their lap, friends playing on the telly and socked feet tangled together.

The rest of the evening continued similarly, the pair finished there soup and left the dishes to do in the morning much to Harry's dismay. They carried on watching Friends wrapped around each other on the couch for a few more hours until Harry suggested they should go to bed as they had a busy day ahead, with Louis' family coming up and having to prepare the rest of the dinner. And the fact it was Louis' birthday.

The pair trudged up the stairs with half closed eyes, shattered from the days events. They took turns in the bathroom, minty kisses following their tooth-brushing and climbed into bed, Harry snuggled in Louis' arms as usual. Louis dropped a kiss to Harry's shoulder before reaching over and turning off the lamp, both falling asleep in mere minutes.

\---

**December 24th**

Harry woke up to Louis snoring in his ear, which was no different from any usual day, only these were the snores of a twenty four year old. Harry climbed out of bed and used the bathroom, then headed downstairs to make Louis his usual birthday breakfast in bed - Full English Breakfast and strong Yorkshire tea. Harry pulled the eggs and bacon out of the fridge, beans out of the cupboard and bread out of the bread bin, and set to work.

When he had finished making the breakfast and had dished it up, he walked into the laundry room and opened the airing cupboard, ferreting to the bottom to retrieve Louis' gifts. He knew Louis would never find it in the laundry room because he never did laundry, so Harry figured it was a safe enough spot. He placed the long thin box on the tray, the bigger bag of presents slung over his shoulder so he didn't trip up on them up the stairs. He carefully climbed back up to the bedroom, trying not to spill or drop anything. He pushed the door open with his foot and snuck in, attempting to avoid the creaky floor boards, and set the tray on the night stand. He hopped up on the bed, placing the sack of gifts on the floor beside him, thinking of the best way to wake Louis up. He mulled it over and contemplated how to go about it without causing injury with his gangly limbs. Eventually, when Louis hadn't reacted to the prodding he tried, he just dived. He jumped on top of the older man and straddled him, making Louis' eyes fly open and for him to jump up in shock.

"Happy Birthday!" Harry screeched in Louis' ear, making him flinch again and kick Harry off. Harry just laughed.

"Gee thanks for the loving wake-up call," Louis said sarcastically, before his eyes zeroed in on the night stand and he licked his lips. "Is that for me?" He asked, batting his eyelashes and looking at Harry coyly.

"No it's for my bit on the side, he should be coming round soon," Harry said, looking towards the door with a mock-hopeful expression.

Louis let out a playful growl and tackled Harry to the bed, pressing kisses all over his face making him giggle and squirm. Harry looked up at Louis with stars in his eyes, Louis mirroring him, and they both leaned towards each other simultaneously, lips brushing and eyes closing. Harry pushed u more urgently and flicked his tongue against the seam of Louis' lips, Louis quickly obliging to let Harry explore. They'd been doing this for years, so it wasn't like Harry needed to explore, more like a revisit. The kiss quickly escalated, soft whimpers falling from Harry's lips and hips bucking into each other. the breakfast lay forgotten on the bedside table as Harry flipped them over and wiggled down Louis' body.

He looked up at Louis with a devilish smirk. "Didn't think I'd forgotten your birthday blowjob did you?"

\---

After the morning's _shenanigans_ , the couple took a brisk shower, which involved Louis ordering Harry to wash his hair because _"I am the birthday boy so you must pamper me."_ Harry just rolled his eyes and tugged on his hair a little to hard to be considered relaxing, so Louis scowled at him. It shut up his demanding though. They went back to the bedroom then and saw the breakfast laying pathetically on the stand, toast soggy and beans stone cold. It happened every single year, so Louis knew that it would still be delicious and wouldn't have to worry about it poisoning him. His eyes zeroed straight in on the presents though, turning around at Harry with an affronted look.

"I thought we agreed on one present this year," Louis said looking at Harry suspiciously.

"One of those is from my mum though, and one is from Gem," Harry shifted so his hands were behind his back in a faux-innocent demeanor.

Louis continued to side-eye Harry, but shifted closer and closer towards the large bag. He was still a child at heart.

"Still wanna open them?" Harry asked with a smirk. Louis grinned and jumped back into the duvet nest, yanking the sack of presents up with him. He dove into the bag head first, returning with a neatly wrapped, squishy package. The tag said that it was from Harry, so Louis beamed up at him when he tore it open and saw a brand new vintage Adidas jacket.

"Thanks H, it's amazing I've been looking at this for a while," Louis said gratefully, slipping it on over his tatty pyjamas.

Harry smiled sweetly at him. "I know. I saw it in your web history."

"You nosy little-" Louis' insult was cut off when a heavy package was dropped onto his lap. It was square and thick, and when Louis shook it it didn't rattle. He looked at Harry confusedly.

"Open it you oaf," Harry grinned at Louis, making him roll his eyes but rip into the blue paper excitedly.

"Oh H," Louis said, suddenly choked up with emotion. It was a leather bound book, their wedding date in roman numerals on the front cover embossed in gold. Louis turned the page and smiled, a picture of Harry in only his pants covering his nipples up on the first page, and a picture of Louis bending down half naked on the other. As he progressed, the pictures progressed into different stages of their wedding, chuckling at the one of Niall dancing on the table, microphone in his right hand, pint glass sloshing around in his left. He cooed at the one of Liam giving his speech, you could practically sense his nerves through the black and white picture. The polaroid on the very last page made Louis' eyes even mistier. It was a simple photo, Louis assuming it was took by one of their mums, the fairy lights wrapped around the trees providing the only source of light. Louis and Harry's foreheads were pressed together, Harry's arms around Louis' neck and Louis' resting on Harry's waist. It was from when they were slow dancing to Thinking Out Loud after all the guests were gone, leaving the the married couple alone in their own little bubble. Louis hadn't realised someone had caught the moment, but he was so glad they had, he wanted it framed on their mantle piece and on their bedside table, it was a breathtaking image.

"Harry," Louis breathed, looking up at Harry, and that was all he could say. Harry smiled in understanding and kissed the top of his head, resting his on top of Louis' as the flicked through the book and laughed at the memories. "This is beautiful H, thank you so much."

Harry just preened when Louis' fingers began carding through his hair in thanks, and they both snuggled back down into the covers. Louis opened the rest of the gifts from Harry's family (Some aftershave from Anne and Robin, and a tacky penis mug from Gemma) sending them all a text to say thank you, and that he would see them in the New Year. The boys both went downstairs then, a lazy day planned before they went for a big birthday meal with Louis' family later on that evening.

Grease was playing on the telly when Louis' phone rang, excusing himself to the hallway when he saw it was his mum.

"Hey mum," Louis greeted with a smile. He was so excited to see her later on, he hadn't seen her properly for months, both Harry and Louis busy with their honeymoon and then their work.

"Hey Boobear," she said with a grin, laughing off Louis' whine about how he was _twenty five now, you can't call me that anymore_. "Happy birthday you old fart."

"Mum!" He said indignantly, whining once again when he just heard her laugh into the receiver. "Have you just rang to insult me or do you have something to say? What time should you be coming up later?"

Johannah sighed into the phone then, a tell tale sign that bad news would follow. "We can't make it Lou, I'm so sorry. The snow has gotten heavier down here, and all the roads are frozen over. My car won't start, Dan's car won't start, and Chris - you know the mechanic from across the road - well he's in New Zealand with his family so he can't check it out, and I've tried calling up the other garages but they're all closed for Christmas, and I-" Louis cut of his mums rambling with a strangled exhale.

"It's okay mum. I know how hard it is to travel in ice, and you've got the twins to think of as well, I mean if Ernest can bloody belly slide on linoleum, God knows what he'll be like on ice," his little brother was like a little penguin.

"I curse Niall every day for showing him how a slip and slide works at that barbecue in the summer, he hurls himself down the hallway every pissing morning," Jay said, eyeroll evident in her voice. Louis laughed, knowing all too well where Ernie's daredevil streak comes from.

"At least Doris is relatively normal," Louis replied with a grin.

"Louis, she tried to eat her Barbie's leg last week."

Louis bellowed out a laugh, picturing his littlest sister gnawing on the leg of one of her dolls whilst Ernest flung himself down the hallway head first. His siblings were weird.

"I'm sorry again Lou, you know I was really looking forward to seeing you both. I've missed you," Johannah said again, making Louis smile sadly and hum in agreement. "Daisy and Phoebe are dead upset too, they were excited to terrorise Harry in the kitchen," she carried on with a chuckle.

"I bet they were. I'm sure the little twins would be worse, Ernie would be crawling inside the oven and Doris would be head first in the mixture."

Johannah laughed again, and they exchanged a few more words before saying goodbye, with the promise of FaceTime the next morning. Louis pocketed his phone and walked back to the lounge, only to see Harry wasn't there. The film was paused at the Greased Lightnin' scene though, so he couldn't have gone far. He peeked his head around the kitchen door to see Harry dancing about and laying out ingredients for cupcakes.

"I assumed that was your mum so I started getting the stuff ready," Harry explained, turning round to be met with Louis' sad expression. "What's up?"

"They're not coming H. Snow's really bad and the cars won't start."

"Oh Lou," Harry said sadly and opened his arms up. Louis fell into them gratefully. "I'm really sorry. Hopefully they might be able to get at New Years, the same as my family."

Louis just shrugged and pulled away from Harry to start putting the ingredients back in the cupboards. Harry joined him after watching him for a little while, completing the task in silence.

"Wanna finish watching the film Birthday Boy?" Harry asked with a small smile.

Louis shrugged again, but grabbed Harry's hands and tugged him back towards the lounge.

\---

The day continued on similarly, Louis moping about and Harry trying to comfort him. They'd rang the restaurant and cancelled their reservations, put the airbeds back up in the attic and packed the travel cribs back into their boxes; watched Grease finished to keep up with birthday traditions, and ate their entire weight in Pringles.

Louis was still mopey by tea time, and still only cracked a small smile when Harry handed Louis his dinner of chicken stuffed with mozerella, wrapped in parma ham with a side of homemade mash with a twinkle in his eye. He didn't even react to his birthday cake, only shooting Harry a small smile and a whisper of thanks. Harry sighed dramatically and threw his hands up in the air.

"Cheer up buttercup," he pestered, nudging Louis with his foot under the table.

"Okie dokie, artichokie," Louis replied with a soft smile. Harry grinned back, determined to break Louis out of his stupor.

"What do you wanna do?" He asked with an eyebrow raise, making Louis smirk back at him and wiggle his eyebrows.

"Oh I think you know Mr Tomlinson."

\---

An hour later Harry was panting on the floor from his victory lap after winning the Scrabble tournament.

"You cheated!" Louis accused, pointing his finger at Harry.

"I did nothing of the sort!" Harry squawked indignantly, sitting up and staring Louis down.

"Well you always win and it's not _fair_ ," Louis whined, flopping down into Harry's lap. He could hear his chest rumble with laughter and Louis frowned.

"Well if you didn't use words like 'Za' then maybe you'd be in the running!"

"Za is a word!" Louis protested.

"Oh yeah, well what does it mean?" Harry challenged, looking down at the man in his lap. Louis poked his little double chin.

"It means," Louis started, drawing out the words. "It means-"

Harry poked him in the belly button. "Get on with it you shit."

"As I was saying, it means," Louis began again, getting ready to run. "That you are a filthy cheater!" He yelled, pushing off from the ground and bolting.

Harry swore, and ran after him, yelling out a battle cry up the stairs. There was a Louis sized lump under the covers when Harry sprinted into their bedroom. The lump was shaking slightly, and little giggles were pouring under the sheets, making Harry smirk and tiptoe towards him. As Louis recognised that Harry was there, he began to laugh more, wiggling lower down the bed until the lump had shifted right to the bottom. Harry noticed his bare foot hanging out of the duvet, so he conducted a plan in his head before pouncing. He pulled Louis' leg hard, making him tumble from the bed squealing. Louis grabbed Harry's other arm on his descent, so both of them fell into a pile of limbs on the floor, shaggy carpet cushioning their fall slightly. The pair were breathless with laughter, not being able to look at one another without falling into another round of contagious giggles.

"I love you," Harry whispered once they had calmed down, making Louis shake his head and look up at him fondly.

"I know," he replied sweetly, making Harry laugh and bury his face into Louis' neck, biting the soft skin there. "Sometimes I wonder if I married a vampire," Louis complained, shaking Harry off.

"Sometimes I wonder if I married a five year old," Harry bit back, making Louis gasp and clutch his hear as though it had injured him.

"You wound me Tomlinson. And would a five year old be able to do this?" Louis stood up from underneath Harry and picked him up, chucking him on the bed like he weighed nothing. Louis grinned at Harry's peals of giggles, then jumped on top of him. The rest was history.

\---

**December 25th**

Louis awoke to silence. No screaming girls, no crying baby, no angry mother yelling at everyone to shut up. Utter silence.

On one hand it was nice, peaceful even. Waking up on his own without a twin jumping on top of him and a baby mithering on the floor to be picked up. On the other hand, however, he missed it. He missed the chaos that usually unfolds on December 25th, missed the ever present chatter, seeing the girls' faces when they opened their presents, and his mum's misty eyes when she opened hers. Louis sighed and cuddled closer to Harry, drawing him in tighter and kissing his bare shoulder. His neck was scattered with red marks from the night before, making Louis smile and nuzzle into him. He may not have some of his family here, but he had Harry, and he dozed back of with a smile planted on his face, thining he was the only family he needed at this moment.

\---

When Louis woke up the second time, it was to Harry on top of him with bright eyes staring at him with excitement, noses touching.

"It's Christmas Lou!" Harry exclaimed, making Louis chuckle and pat his hip.

"Yeah, no shit baby," Harry frowned at Louis' teasing, but hopped off of the bed and extended an arm out to Louis, who took it and rolled off of bed, extremely inelegantly. Harry laughed and covered his eyes when Louis flashed his dick, making him swat his still sore arse. Louis cackled when Harry's eyes popped out of his head, an affronted look on his face.

Louis strolled to the bathroom to wee and clean his teeth, ever-present grin on his face, which proved to be a bit of a problem when he had a mouthful of minty foam. He felt Harry's arms wrap around his middle, so he leant back against him and met his eyes in the mirror.

"Merry Christmas Lou," Harry murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of Louis' neck.

"Merry Christmas baby," Louis replied, planting a closed mouth kiss on Harry's lips. The pulled away when they were smiling too hard, then gave each other a long look.

They raced down the stairs towards the lounge, Louis pulling Harry backwards by the waistband of his boxers, laughing manically when he cried out in protest. Louis dived towards the tree, sitting down with his legs crossed and smiling sweetly at Harry when he plodded in.

"I get to open the first present then?" Louis asked with a smirk. Harry's answering huff was all he needed to grab one and begin tearing into it. Louis grinned when he saw it was an industrial sized box of Yorkshire Tea, Harry always bulked up his supply.

"Your turn then you big baby," Louis said, prodding Harry between the eyebrows which only deepened his frown.

The pair continued to take turns in opening gifts, not taking them as long as usual due to the absence of the Tomlinson's and their presents. They had both ended up very happy as usual, two hefty piles of presents stacked next to them. Louis was just investigating the Spider-Man web shooter Liam had got him, went he heard Harry yell,

"Lou it's snowed!"

Louis shot up from the floor and towards the window, and indeed saw a carpet of thick white over thier back garden. He nudged Harry with his hip, beaming at him.

"Wanna build a snowman?"

Harry nodded aggresively, asking Louis to go and get their boots and coats while Harry turned the oven on and put the turkey in. After finding out that Louis' family weren't going to be joining them, he'd decided to save the ham joint until New Years, so it wouldn't go to waste. He walked to the kitchen shaking his head when he heard Louis boudning upstairs, and bent down to look at the turkey and wish it a silent good luck, before turning the oven on and setting the timer. He turned back around to see Louis waddling in, arms laden with thick jumpers, coats and a pair of boots in his hands. The pair quickly got dressed and dashed out the door and Harry pulled it closed, listening to the latch click. Then he dropped to the floor to make a snow angel.

"You're gonna freeze your balls off!" Louis yelled from where he'd already started to construct the snowman's body. Harry just shrugged from his place on the floor and looked up to the sky, watching odd flakes of snow fall to the ground.

When his arse was fully numb he decided to join Louis in the snowman making, dusting off his pyjama bottoms and jogging over to the construction area. He grabbed handfuls of snow and stuck it to the rapidly growing ball, moulding it into an almost perfect circle. He began to work on the head while Louis attempted to form a dick and stick it on. It didn't quite go to plan, and Harry had finished with the head by the time Louis had managed to make one testicle stick. Louis threw the snow to the ground and angrily stomped on it, pouting up at Harry, making him sigh and kiss it off. Louis grinned at the snowman, scrutinizing it with his head cocked to one side.

"Harry love, his head is wonky."

"What do you - oh."

The snowman looked a bit sorry for itself. Its head looked like it was about two seconds from falling off, and was extremely disproportional to its body. Harry frowned and reached out to adjust it but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"I like him. He's unique," Louis said firmly. He ran back to the house to get a carrot for his nose and something for his eyes and mouth while Harry wondered off for some twigs to act as arms.

"Harry darling," Louis called making Harry turn to face him. "Do you have the keys?" He asks expectantly.

"No? Why?"

"Fuck." Louis said, dropping his head against the door and banging it repeatedly.

"Louis, what's going on," Harry asked, even though he had a worrying idea about what was happening.

"We've locked ourselves out," Louis sighed, confirming Harry's suspicions.

"Oh God, we'll probably have to ring Liam for -" Harry cut himself off with a gasp. "My turkey!"

"We're out here about to freeze to death and you're bothered about a pissing turkey?" Louis asked with shocked eyes.

"We're not about to freeze to death you drama queen! My turkey's in the oven, it's gonna burn! What if it sets the house on fire?" Harry cried worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Oh pissing hell, let me ring Liam."

Harry trudged through the snow towards the porch where Louis was sat, swearing at Liam through the phone. After a brief conversation, Louis hung up with a pleased smile on his face.

"He's on his way."

\---

They'd managed to have two snowball fights (Louis winning both of them after Harry surrendered), a game of eye-spy (which Harry won after Louis cheated, making up things that he couldn't see at all), and an argument about what they should name the snowman and Liam still hadn't arrived. Harry was dithering and his teeth were chattering, despite being bundled up in both his and Louis' coats. Louis was rubbing his back to try and keep him warm, both of them huddled together on the steps of the front porch.

"What's wrong darling?" Louis asked after Harry let out a sniffle.

"It's been a bit of a shit Christmas hasn't it?" Harry said, voice thick. "God, we don't have the right turkey, your family aren't here and we're locked outside on Christmas day, freezing to death," Harry chuckled sadly and wiped at his eyes. "I just wanted it to be perfect, you know? It's our first Christmas together as husbands, and I had visions of us going shopping together and preparing the dinner together whilst tormenting the kids; then on Christmas morning we'd all open our presents and drink tea to keep us warm; we'd all get dressed in our fancy clothes and sit down at the table with a big turkey and all the trimmings, Ernie and Doris flinging gravy at you and everyone laughing. I just wanted it to be good," Harry sniffed, a few tears falling down his face.

"Hey, hey love, don't cry," Louis soothed and stroked Harry's hair back from his face, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "It'll still be a good Christmas, just not as loud and chaotic and big. It'll just be me and you, which won't be that bad I don't think."

Harry flashed Louis a watery smile and rested his head on his shoulder, sighing in relief when he saw Liam's familiar Audi pull up. He stepped out of the car swinging his spare keys in one hand and rolled his eyes.

"Took you long enough Payno!" Louis called teasingly.

"You're lucky I came at all Tommo. I only did this because you said Harry was locked out with you," Liam said back, approaching the frozen pair.

"Just open the bloody door," Louis grumbled, standing up and pulling Harry with him.

Liam grinned maliciously. "Say please Tommo."

"Oh for fucks sake. _Please_ will you open the door?" Louis exaggerated, batting his eyelashes and pouting his lips up at him.

Liam laughed and unlocked the door, letting Harry rush in first after his turkey. When he opened the kitchen door, he wasn't met by a cloud of smoke like he'd expected, just the horrid smell of burning. He bent down and testingly opened the oven door, coughing slightly when smoke billowed out into the air. He pulled on his oven mitts and gingerly took out the bird, skin burned black and legs fallen off. Harry sighed defeatedly.

"No turkey then?" Louis asked, edging his way into the room.

"I don't know, what do you bloody think Louis?" Harry snapped, making Louis wince. He sighed again. "I'm sorry, just stressed."

"Go and sit in the lounge and play with your new camera, I'll sort this out," Louis said shooing Harry out of the kitchen and onto the sofa. He plopped the Polaroid into Harry's hands and left with a kiss to his forehead.

\---

By one o'clock, Harry still hadn't seen Louis reappear, or heard any noise come from the kitchen. He was quite worried. He'd yelled and asked if Louis needed help, or if he could come in yet, and the answer was always a firm no. Harry had took a shot of the tree on his camera already, loving the quality of the vintage camera. Just as he was about to take another shot, Louis called him into the kitchen so Harry hung the camera around his neck and walked off towards his husband.

He stopped dead in the middle of the doorway and gasped, eyes filling up with tears. Louis was stood in the middle of the kitchen, tea lights covering every possible surface, and larger candles lit in the candelabra on the center of the table. A sheepish smile was on his face, and Harry flung himself it him, Louis staggering backwards but righting himself immediately with a chuckle.

"This okay for you then?" Louis whispered in his ear, squeezing his boy tight.

"More than okay," Harry whispered back earnestly, looking up at his husband and grinning from ear to ear.

Louis kissed his lips softly, then led them over to the dining table which was set for two. he pulled Harry's chair out for him like a proper gentleman, making Harry flush slightly and giggle. Harry looked down to his plate and burst out laughing when he saw a crisp sandwich, accompanied by the carrots and potatoes they'd managed to salvage, brussels boiled to a mush and stuffing burnt to a crisp.

"Thank you so much," Harry said to Louis, meeting his eyes over the top of the flames and flashing him a teary smile.

"You're more than welcome baby. Now dig in to your lovingly prepared, extremely festive crisp sandwich," Louis said dramatically, gesturing to the odd meals set before them. Harry laughed and began to eat, humming in appreciation. Nothing could beat a good crisp sandwich.

And when they were sat on the floor of the lounge, Louis laughing at something Harry had said with the fairy lights casting a soft glow on his face, Harry realised he didn't need a big fancy Christmas, all he needed was sat in front of him.

"Merry Christmas Mr. Tomlinson."

"Merry Christmas Mr. Tomlinson."

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!  
> if you spotted any mistakes just let me know and i'll change them and if i've missed anything off the tags :)  
> twitter // tumblr


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